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Baklazhannaya ikra is one of my favorite dishes. The meaning of baklazhannaya ikra is eggplant caviar. It’s weird because the dish doesn’t contain any caviar. I grew up in a Russian family, both parents being from the former soviet union. It wasn’t unusual for us to make this dish at least once a week. It is a relatively cheap dish, vegan, and very filling. Not sure why, but this was the first time that I’ve made it in years actually. It was as delicious as I’ve remembered it. It was always one of my signature dishes growing up. I loved cooking, especially for a group of people. Food is my way of bringing people together.

Ingredients

• 2 medium eggplants
• 3 tomatoes
• 5 small carrots
• ½ zucchini
• 4 cloves of garlic
• 1 bell pepper
• 1 onion
• A bunch of fresh dill
• Dried thyme
• Salt
• Oil

Method

1. Chop up the onion into small pieces. Throw the chopped onion into a pan with some hot oil. Let it sautee on low heat for a few minutes.
2. Chop up the rest of the veggies into small cubes. Slowly add the veggies to the pan. First, the eggplant, after a few minutes, the carrots, then a few minutes later the zucchini, and so on.
3. Once all the veggies are pretty soft and brown, add in the fresh dill, minced garlic, salt, and thyme.
4. Sautee all the veggies with the spices for a total of 25 minutes or more on low heat. That time starts from when you put the onions in the pan.
5. You’ll know it’s ready when all the veggies are very soft and brown. You’ll have a wonderful smell in the house.

This dish can be served by itself, with rice or anything else really. If you have any questions, or just want to let me know how it turned out, drop a comment below. Enjoy!

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What is a popular dish you ate in your home growing up?